He brought the famous Novi engine back to the Speedway in the early sixties – with a supercharger, along with his now-famous STP sponsorship. In 1957, Andy Granatelli bought Paxton Products and produced superchargers. Granatelli attempted to qualify himself in 1948, but crashed on his qualifying run and never made the race as a driver.īy the mid-fifties – Grancor Automotive had made the Granatelli brothers millionaires. He lasted only forty-six laps, but that was good for twenty-first. Their driver, Danny Kladis, qualified an old Miller-Ford in the thirty-third starting spot. He explained on Trackside that he had never been to any racetrack at that time – not even to a midget track. I’ll touch on a few highlights.Īs mentioned, Andy Granatelli first came to the Speedway in 1946 with his brothers Joe and Vince and their Grancor Automotive Racing Team. But there is so much more to the career of Andy Granatelli at Indianapolis, to try and cover it here is doing his career an injustice. Most people remember Andy Granatelli for bringing the turbines to Indianapolis in 1967 & 1968 obnoxious pajama-like STP pit uniforms or for planting a sloppy kiss on the cheek of Mario Andretti in Victory Lane in 1969. There are many words I have heard, but that isn’t one of them. In all honesty, I’ve never heard the word boring ever used to describe Andy Granatelli. He talked so fast in so many directions, I couldn’t keep up. It’s ironic that someone known to be morbidly verbose like myself would accuse someone of talking too much. If Kevin Lee was still tired from his trip to Brazil, he got a good chance to catch up on his sleep during the broadcast. Eighteen minutes and no commercials later, Granatelli was still going. Curt Cavin asked Granatelli about his impressions of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first time he visited in April of 1946. His mind and wit are as sharp as ever, and apparently so is his gift of gab. Their guest was none other than Andy Granatelli – otherwise known as Mister 500, along with some other choice nicknames he’s picked up over the years. If you are into long, rambling stories that seemingly go nowhere, then Friday night’s Trackside may be for you.
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